


Running the Blade's Edge

by Skyblaze



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - Fandom
Genre: Adventure, Multi, Supernatural - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-29
Updated: 2011-06-29
Packaged: 2017-10-23 21:02:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/254940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyblaze/pseuds/Skyblaze
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sonic returns from Camelot, but he doesn't come back alone. Something else came back - and it threatens all Sonic holds dear... Now a Knight of the Round Table, the Ultimate Lifeform and the Hero of Mobius must face the secret of Camelot together</p>
            </blockquote>





	Running the Blade's Edge

**Author's Note:**

>   
> **Running the Blade's Edge**   
> 

  
**Running the Blade's Edge**   


A foot clad in cherry-red sneakers swung in a powerful kick towards the robot, punching a large hole in the metal plating of the torso. The owner of the foot leapt back as the heavily damaged bot emitted a loud whine, then exploded into a shower of metal fragments. Sonic looked around the field, surveying the array of broken bots with satisfaction. He dusted off his hands, turning around as he did so to smile at the small Mobian he had been protecting.

"S'ok now," he said warmly, "It's all taken care of."

Cream uncurled slowly from where she had been hiding behind a rock, her eyes large with fright, "Are you sure they're all gone now, Mr. Sonic?" she asked anxiously, long ears lifting themselves as if to detect any noises of possible leftover attackers.

Sonic smiled and held out his left hand, "Of course I am, I promised I'd protect you, right?"

Cream took his hand, smiling gratefully up at him. Sonic grinned back, but then glanced over to the only other person standing near them - a much older rabbit with grey fur and strangely sad eyes. A metal plate with a short chain dangling from it seemed to be riveted to his thick leather jacket, but Sonic knew the plate was fastened far deeper than that. The hedgehog and rabbit exchanged a long look, and at last the rabbit smiled.

"Thanks for looking after my little girl," the older rabbit said softly.

Sonic nodded in acknowledgement. Cream didn't react - but of course, she couldn't hear the other rabbit. Or see him, or touch him. To her, he was as invisible and insubstantial as air. When he had been alive, his name had been Johnny Lightfoot. Sonic had never really known him all that well, since he had died in the flooding of Station Square a few years ago - a fact that caused Sonic periodic twinges of guilt that he tried his best to suppress.

 _Never look back...but look after those who need you now._

Sonic glanced between them both, suppressing the urge to sigh. He had promised to care for Cream as a favour to the shade of her father... a favour to a ghost only he could see. It was no wonder the others thought he was going nuts.

From far in the distance came the sound of an unearthly, echoing roar. A shiver ran down his body at the sound, his right hand suddenly feeling strangely empty.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Sonic?" Cream asked, looking up at him in concern. Sonic felt his unease grow as he realised the little rabbit hadn't heard that cry at all... and considering how sensitive a young rabbit's hearing was, that meant only one thing.

"It's nothin', Cream, but we better get ya home before your Mom misses ya," he said, trying to sound as cheerful and as unconcerned as he had only a moment ago. "How 'bout a ride on the hedgehog express?" he asked with a wink.

Large chocolate eyes blinked up at him. "With the...do you mean with you?" the little rabbit asked, her voice wavering a bit between nervousness but also excitement as the bunny seemed to be torn between whether it would be safe and more importantly, _polite_ , to be blasting through the meadows of Blue Coast Zone at hell-raising speeds, and whether it wouldn't be also incredibly _fun_.

"Sure, I used to carry Tails all the time when he was your size," Sonic reassured her, holding out his arms invitingly (a piggyback ride was out for obvious reasons). "That way we'll be at your mom's in a jiffy," he added - conveniently leaving out how Tails had also _thrown up_ the first few times Sonic had carried him, but then again, the hero of Mobius wasn't planning to break the sound barrier while he was holding Cream. He just really wanted to be away from this place now.

"O-okay," the little rabbit smiled, and, with the agility that was the trademark of her species leapt up into his arms. Thin brown limbs locked around Sonic's neck and finally, Johnny's daughter gave Sonic a determined look and a brave smile that reminded the hedgehog again way too much of a certain fox cub not too long ago. "I'm ready, Mr Sonic."

"Awesome. Three, two, one – up over and gone!" Sonic called out, dashing off at last, away from that roar that was giving him the collywobbles.

The fields and swashing palm trees flashed past as he ran, but even at this speed, he could feel it still on their tail, sniffing them out like some sort of otherworldly bloodhound. For one of the few times in Sonic's life, running didn't seem to be accomplishing anything.

He stopped on one of the higher hills, overlooking the rest of the zone and the sea that glittered like a million sapphire jewels beyond. Carefully, he set Cream down again, and told her to hide.

The young rabbit looked up at him, guileless brown eyes full of fear, "Is something still after us, Mr. Sonic?" she asked, one small hand tugging at her ears in distress again.

"Yeah," Sonic answered truthfully, "But don't worry, I'll take care of it." he smiled, filling his expression with every ounce of the unthinking and cocky bravado he was known for. Luckily, Cream's youthful eyes still accepted what she saw at face value, so she just hugged him briefly and obediently went to hide, another skill rabbits luckily had an innate knack for.

Sonic braced himself, even as Johnny materialised beside him.

"Any idea what it is?" Sonic asked in a low, tense voice, hoping for a clue - any clue - to how to fight it.

Johnny just looked at him, his semi-transparent face wearing an indecipherable expression, "All I know," the rabbit began, "Is that it's hungry - beyond hungry... _ravenous_."

"Oh well, that's good news - hedgehogs are tricky to eat, at least," Sonic joked.

Johnny didn't reply.

The unearthly roar shattered the air again, making Sonic press his ears to his head in pain. Something large was tromping up the hill, the ground shaking with its every ponderous step. As its head appeared over the crest of the hill, Sonic couldn't help but recoil.

The thing looked vaguely bat-like, tattered leathery wings trailing from its back, long limbs that ended in short but lethally sharp claws. Its torso was covered in a coat of patchy black fur, apart from a section near the centre of its chest, which was just a gaping hole, perfectly round as though someone had just punched a hole straight through its chest.

It was the head that truly horrified him, though. A mask of bleached white bone covered its face, soulless yellow eyes burned sulphurously behind the eye sockets, staring hungrily at the hedgehog who glared defiantly back, his hand suddenly groping for a sword that wasn't there.

Then the teeth of the mask split apart as it opened its mouth for another roar and Sonic saw to his horror that another set of teeth lay behind the mask, but beyond that there was nothing but black emptiness.

Sonic dropped into a ready stance, a smile touching his face as adrenaline started to race through his veins.

"Hey ugly, the auditions for Frankenstein's Monster are _next_ week. Maybe if you come back later, I'll put in a good word for ya – not that you probably wouldn't just eat the casting agent, but-!"

The creature just howled and swiped at him, razor sharp claws slicing through the grass where Sonic had been only an instant before.

"Not bad, but not quite good enough there, bonehead," Sonic taunted, muscles coiled like springs as he waited for the best moment to attack. The monster charged, its double jaws opened wide as if to devour Sonic whole.

The hero of Mobius leapt, curling up into a tight ball and shooting straight towards the back of the monster's head. He struck with terrific force, the impact jarring every bone in his body. He rebounded away at a strange angle, landing poorly. Not able to pause, the blue hedgehog immediately got back to his feet and span around to face the monster again, hoping to assess the impact of his attack.

There wasn't one. Not even so much as a scratch had appeared on the creature's head.

Sonic's mouth opened for a second in something akin to shock, but then the skull-like mask swung towards him again as it prepared another charge.

Sonic shook off the panic that was clawing at his brain, nimbly dodging another attack from the monster. His mind was racing through ideas and possibilities, trying to find a solution. It was times like these a Chaos Emerald would have come in handy...

Diving into another spin-dash, he aimed lower this time, going for the things' knees, hoping that it had at least some of the same vulnerabilities as normal creatures.

Unfortunately, his attack just bounced off it again, succeeding in doing little more than making the thing even angrier.

Sonic had to swallow and back off as the monster closed in on him, the yellow eyes burning with anticipation as it tasted triumph.

"Be careful, Mr Sonic!" A piping female voice came from behind him. Sonic looked over his shoulder and realised with sudden panic that Cream was right behind him as the fight had drawn close to her hiding place. The creature now stood in front, one bat-like arm raised as it prepared to strike a final blow, claws glinting menacingly in the light.

Sonic reacted without thinking.

Before the arm had even made it half the distance, he had already grabbed the young rabbit and cradled her close against his chest, turning and half-curling to present the best-defended part of his body to his attacker, bracing himself for the blow that was sure to come.

"CHAOS SPEAR!"

Sonic looked up to see a blast of golden energy suddenly incinerate the claw that had been bearing down upon him.

"How unlike you Faker; cowering in the face of danger." A smooth, low voice asked mockingly.

Sonic looked up, "Shadow!"

"Hmph," Shadow grunted dismissively, "Stand back, hedgehog. I'll handle this."

Sonic frowned, but gripped Cream tightly and drew her away from the battle zone. As much as it irked him that the black hedgehog had just had to save him and after that add insult to prevented injury, the little rabbit's safety at this moment was more important to him than stung pride. Shadow was now squaring up against the monster, darting in and out of the creature's reach, his fists glowing with Chaos power that burned every time they struck. His strategy worked much better than Sonic's had, eventually forcing the thing to start backing off, howling in pain.

"What is that thing, Shadow?" Sonic called when he was sure Shadow had the monster on the back foot, at the same time still holding onto the terrified Cream, who clung to him like a limpet.

"I have no idea," the black hedgehog replied absently, launching another burst of power right into the monster's eyes as if this was everyday business, making it shriek and recoil, flailing blindly with its spindly arms and carving great furrows in the soft earth. "All I know is that they can _die_."

Sonic watched in fascination as Shadow backflipped, dodging another blind swing with practised, easy grace. Standing right in front of the monster, he powered up another chaos spear, preparing to fling its destructive power right into his enemy, Emerald flames crackling around his hand as he stood toe-to-toe with this unnatural creature.

The Ultimate Lifeform's lips curled into a cruel smirk. Maybe he'd try to strike that monster right into its non-existent heart.

But it was at that point that suddenly, all the breath was knocked out of his lungs, the power he had been gathering abruptly snuffed out. Before Shadow could even cry out, he was pushed aside without warning just as the creature made another wild, clumsy swing towards him.

And at the same time, a voice rang loud across the hillside. " _Run wild, Arondight!_ "

The sharp sound of metal against bone echoed in the air for only a moment, accompanied by a blinding flash that Cream had to shield her eyes from. And then the monster stood there unmoving, before it began to dissolve, fading away into dust as it crumbled away from the cut that had suddenly cleaved it in two.

Shadow had been the first to recover from the shock as the dust cleared, and he used his gathered wits to narrow his eyes into a scathing glare, feeling both frustrated and irritated that he had been robbed of an easy and legitimate victory and searching for the culprit that had stopped his fight short. But as the last remnants of the monster dissolved, he suddenly realised that his angry gaze was being met by eyes as fierce and burning ember red as his own.

Next, those eyes also widened ever so subtly as Shadow slowly grew aware that the other Sapient who had interrupted his battle shared more than just _one_ feature with him – the other was a hedgehog as well, and he looked identical to the Ultimate Lifeform in every single detail.

Instantly, the Ultimate Lifeform's muscles tensed as his mind flashed to the thought of all those android copies of him the Doctor had built not so long ago... but no, there was none of the blank emptiness of a programmed mind in this gaze. Instead, there was intelligence, purpose, determination and a flicker of something ancient and deadly that burned behind those otherwise so familiar ruby eyes. _Who...?_

Shadow blinked, his anger cooling into confusion as his apparent doppelganger turned to face Sonic next, completely ignoring him. As his did so, Shadow also realised that his double was wearing armour - actual metal plates like knights in old stories and movies like 'Excalibur' and 'A Knight's Tale' that he had once watched with Maria so long ago.

The knight - if that was what he was – inclined his head, sticking the broad-bladed sword he carried into the earth and clasped his hands over the pommel, dropping to one knee.

"Your Majesty," he said in a profoundly formal tone.

Sonic winced and then sighed, his eyes briefly flickering towards Shadow, whose jaw was currently hanging open in raw astonishment, and also down to Cream, who for once was wearing the exact same expression as the black hedgehog.

"Hi there, Lancelot," Sonic said somewhat sheepishly, "Good to see you again."

Before the knight at Sonic's feet could reply, Shadow interrupted.

"What the hell is going on?" Shadow demanded, glaring at Sonic and the knight that Sonic had addressed as 'Lancelot' - a name he recognised from old stories.

"Shadow, this is Lancelot. Lancelot this is Shadow, I'm sure you two will get on just great," A slight edge of sarcasm touched the blue speedster's words, though his expression remained deceptively cheerful, "C'mon, Shadow, I explained this, remember? I met Lancelot in Camelot, I even said he looked like you!"

Shadow rolled his eyes, "You are making two critical errors, faker. The first is to think I listen to anything you say when you are prattling on, the second is to think that anyone believed that nonsense."

Sonic glanced down at Lancelot, then looked back at Shadow with a slightly smug expression, "Doesn't look like nonsense now, huh?"

Lancelot, still kneeling on the ground, looked between them with a baffled expression. Cream just blinked, her expression just as confused.

"My Lord," Lancelot said somewhat hesitantly, "Is something wrong with your comrade?"

"Huh? Oh, no Lancelot. Believe it or not, he's always like this," He replied, ignoring the indignant grunt from Shadow. Sonic glanced down, noticing that the knight was still on his knees, "And get up, dude, no need for you to be down on the ground like that."

"As you wish, My lord." Lancelot replied, getting up and sliding his curved sword back into its sheath.

"Why the hell," Shadow ground out through clenched teeth, glaring fiercely at Sonic "does he keep calling you that?"

Lancelot glanced at him, "Why? Because he is the King of Camelot, The High King returned, the savour of our world."

Shadow just stared for a moment, before he threw back his head and laughed.

Lancelot's eyes blazed in sudden rage, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword, "Are you perchance offering an impertinence to my king?" Lancelot asked in a deadly quiet voice, "If so, then though you surely do share my visage, you do not share my sense of courtesy. Be silent, or I will prove your folly upon your fallen corpse."

The laughter stopped, the sudden silence almost oppressive as the two black hedgehogs glared at one another, "If that was a challenge, then it is one you will regret offering."

"Is talking all you are capable of? Do you lack courage as well as courtesy?" Lancelot taunted, loosening his sword in its sheath.

Shadow snarled in fury, dropping into a fighting stance, the air crackling as chaos power built up around him, one hand tensed to throw a chaos spear...

"Guys, that's enough!" Sonic yelled, jumping between them, "Geez, will you both chill out?"

Shadow and Lancelot looked at him, then glared at each other before Lancelot reluctantly sheathed his sword once again. Shadow growled low in his throat, but finally backed down, the Chaos energy he had gathered slowly dissipating.

Sonic, realising that the two dark hedgehogs were not in immediate danger of killing each other, turned to Lancelot. "So, Lancelot, what are ya doing here? I thought the Knights were meant to stay in Camelot?"

Lancelot nodded still casting warning glares at Shadow, "Indeed that is so, my king, but a dangerous situation has arisen, and the Round Table felt it best-"

Whatever Lancelot was going to say was interrupted by another unearthly roar. Lancelot whirled, his sword whipping from its scabbard once again, his eyes scanning the horizon.

"I thought we killed that thing." Shadow growled as he also dropped into a fighting stance, power gathering in his body again.

"True," Lancelot said, his voice tense, "But that is why I am here - there are more of them."

"More?" Sonic asked, startled, "How many more?"

Lancelot's ruby gaze sought out Sonic's eyes, "A great many, sire. We must flee, this is no place to make a stand against them."

Sonic's eyes widened as he realised the implications in Lancelot's softly spoken words, then he turned to see Cream still standing there, her eyes wide and terrified. Johnny hovered behind her, his arms poised as if he desperately wanted to hug his daughter.

"But..." Sonic began, "Cream and..." he gestured helplessly towards the young rabbit and the ghost, unsure if Lancelot or Shadow could even see them.

Lancelot followed Sonic's gaze, "Fear not, my lord. We will get the child somewhere safe, and when we have leisure I will perform a soul burial for your friend, then we can prepare for battle."

Sonic leaned down to hug the frightened Cream, who was so scared by now that tears were leaking from her eyes, "But those monsters were after Johnny and Cream, I promised I'd protect her..."

Lancelot stepped towards Sonic, placing a comforting hand on Sonic's shoulder, "My lord, the monsters of which you spoke are named Hollows. And they are not seeking to devour your friends. They have a different target in what passes for their minds."

Sonic met Lancelot's eyes, "What are they after?"

Lancelot's expression was very grave when he answered, "You, my lord. They are seeking you."

 _To Be Continued...?_

Author's note   
_: I haven't listed this as a crossover because it isn't one, since it won't feature any of the cast, just a few concepts and ideas taken from a Certain Popular Anime Series. I'm sure many of you know which series I mean._

 _Oh, and I blame Taranea and Greyfore for this, but then, I usually do. *g*_


End file.
